We remain fully committed to providing you with updates on improvements being made to the game, and today’s Dev Diary is no different. In addition to going in depth on the drifting mechanic itself, we also want to highlight key visual improvements we have made to the drift boost mechanic based on feedback from the PC Closed Beta. 

What's drifting in Disney Speedstorm you ask? Well, the simple explanation is that it's the most effective, efficient and straight up coolest way to round corners during a race.  But if you're not catching our drift, our game designers have a more technical definition for the racing enthusiasts as well. 

“When drifting in our game, a player oversteers in a particular direction by pressing and holding the drift button which results in the tires losing traction while maintaining a level of control over the arc trajectory of the vehicle.”

Drifting is an absolutely crucial mechanic that players will need to master if they hope to find themselves on top of the podium. In this week’s Dev Diary, we’ve once again enlisted the expertise of Game Designer Hunor Vizi to explain this key mechanic in detail. 

DRIFTING 101

“With the drifting mechanic we wanted to empower our players to handle all the tight twists and turns that the game’s tracks have to offer. 

Drifting makes the gameplay feel more fast paced in general, and the drift boost mechanic that enables karts to accelerate out of curves, gives an even greater sense of speed to races.

We wanted drifting to not only feel amazing, but to be easy to execute. The mechanic is very accessible, but the real challenge lies in getting the most out of your drift through timing and precision steering”

Before we get into the more advanced drifting techniques, Hunor will briefly explain the basics of how to drift in Disney Speedstorm.

“During a race, holding the drift button while turning left or right will make the kart start to drift. While drifting, the player has control over tightening or loosening the curved path along its trajectory with the directional buttons. 

The tighter the drift, the more speed a kart loses and at the loosest possible drift trajectory, a kart will accelerate at a rate equal to that of normal forward acceleration.”

The drifting mechanic has many layers to it and while it’s certainly something that’s easy to pick up, it will take skill and practice to master, so take notes as we peel back some of those additional layers below.

DRIFTING & MANUAL BOOST

Drifting isn’t just a way to look cool while you race, it’s also absolutely critical to filling your Manual Boost Bar. While you are drifting, your manual boost bar will start to fill up, giving you a quick and easy way to get a timely speed boost when you need it.

DRIFT BOOSTING

Drift boosting is a slightly more advanced element of the drifting mechanic and really benefits racers who hold longer drifts. 

“Drift boost activates after around 1.5 seconds of continuous drifting and is indicated by your wheels glowing. A successfully charged drift boost will grant an instant speed boost as well as extra manual boost fuel.” 

Being in the air or hitting walls and obstacles will cancel a Drift Boost charge so be wary when starting a charge when close to ramps and obstacles. 

We saw the feedback during the Closed Beta that it wasn’t visually clear when drift boost was charging or ready to activate. Now, your wheels will progressively start to glow as the drift boost charges and sparks will start to fly. When your drift boost is fully charged your entire wheel will be fully glowing so you won’t miss your chance to leave the competition in your dust anymore!

RACER CLASSES, HANDLING & DRIFTING

If you read our previous Dev Diary on Racer Classes, you’ll know that Trickster class racers have an advantage over other racers when it comes to drift boosting. 

“Trickster class racers get double the amount of manual boost fuel upon a successful Drift Boost compared to other classes.”

We mentioned earlier how the tightness of a drift’s trajectory influences the rate of speed loss while drifting. In addition to this, another key factor to take into account is the handling stat of individual racers.

“Maneuverability & speed loss rate during drifts are dependent on the handling stat of each racer.”

If you are using a racer with a lower handling stat, it’s a good strategy to equip them with a Crew member that will boost their handling. We covered Crews in a previous Dev Diary so be sure to check that out as well if you missed it.  

Well, there you have it! If you’ve reached this far, we can assume you haven’t drifted off and hope you enjoyed our deep dive on drifting in Disney Speedstorm. We look forward to sharing our next Dev Diary with you all soon!

Finally, don't forget to follow us on our social media channels for all the latest news and make sure you to wishlist the game if you haven’t already!

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